Her Reluctant Executioner

Bronte Kessler's mate rejected her the morning he was given the executioner's blade. He didn't explain. He looked at her, said the words, and walked into the longhouse. So she left — took the north road, took work as a tracker, and didn't shift in front of another wolf for four years. Then a magistrate's daughter is taken by raiders, and the only wolf alive who's been to the raiders' camp is the man who ruined Bronte's life. Eleven days in the backcountry with no one else to trust. By the fourth day she knows why he did it. By the tenth, she's decided the reason doesn't matter — only what he does next. He says he's putting the blade down. She says she'll believe it when she sees it. She's spent four years not needing anyone. She's not about to start with him — unless he earns it.